SUMMARY: When on the trail follow the YELLOW METAL TAGS. The diamond tags mean go straight ahead, more or less. The right arrows mean go right and the left arrows mean, yup, go leftcreate
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Mt Elphinstone
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Jun 30, 2019
I cannot seem to comprehend the aspect of going to a beach and just relaxing. Why get weird tan lines on a beach when I can get even more interesting backpack tan lines while in the mountains far far away from humans. Well. That was the plan anyway. I believe our final count of people encountered on the hike was 43.
Did we get lost on the biking trails trying to find this trail? Yes, yes we did. Sadly I do not have advice on how to get to this trail efficiently as we blindly took routes down as well. The route follows the ridge of the mountain for a significant portion of the way up meaning that every time I stared through the trees to find the highest point it seemed there was none. From my understanding, the first major creek crossing marks the halfway point, but the trail takes a raise in its grade just past a junction of what appears to be another way up.
Past the junction is where the trail really feels like the backcountry routes I am familiar with. Coupled with going early enough that there were only three other people on the trail, I truly felt at peace marching up the mountain. At this point, I have done enough trails that snippets of this hike reminded me of other trails.
A flat ridge gives the legs a lovely break from tackling just uphill sections, and instead one can wonder how to cross muddy sections without sinking into the mud. Overall this trail is nicely maintained, except for a few sections that have a few bushes snaking in (nothing that makes this bushwhacking tag worthy). There were also a few lovely swamps for my hiking partner and I to rank, one of which had two salamanders that at the time I swore were not native to the area. After some light research post-hike it appears someone decided they no longer wanted their pets….
Past the flat section, the trail begins its steady climb again, at this point one must be cautious of not stepping onto the wrong trail and heading down the mountain to a completely different trailhead. There is a viewpoint overlooking Gibson's landing, and the tent pad at the end of the trail overlooks gently rolling mountains. Part of the reason I hike is to just stare at the mountains that usually line the trail. In this case, I settled on trying to figure out which direction Tetrahedron was.